Monday, January 12, 2015

Decool BootLEGO - Dark Knight Rises CATWOMAN!

Decool Super Heroes - DKR Catwoman Brick Figure - Decool 2014

I've had an interesting change of heart in the past six months or so. When I started collecting LEGOs a few years ago, I was instantly frustrated by the questions of authenticity when purchasing figures on eBay. I started my collection with the second round of DC Superheroes in 2011. I quickly bought up Harley, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy in stores. Then tried to hunt down the old 2008 releases only to consistently confronted with fake versions. I hated it. I vowed never to buy a fake LEGO. But that was before a few very interesting 3rd Party manufacturers started to produce characters we would likely never see in an official LEGO set. My first cave-in purchase was the Fantastic Four, quickly followed by Stargirl. Then about a month ago this little Catwoman started appearing on eBay. This is the first BootLEGO character that was a definite must-have for me. I must say that she is of excellent quality and I will now be keeping my eye out for future figures like this. Let's check out DKR Catwoman!

Although these fake LEGOs often show pictures of boxes, and although I've won some auctions that claimed to include a box, I have yet to actually get my hands on one. Mine came polybagged as seen on the Right.

One of the key differences in the construction of Decool figures vs LEGO is the way the legs attach to the torso. They have three thin tabs that anchor into the torso instead of LEGO's two thick posts.

Catwoman comes with two guns, despite the whip accessory shown in all the promotional imagery.

Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!

Here she is with the 2011 LEGO Catwoman.

And with a Kubrick Batman Returns Catwoman from Medicom and a C3 Minimate Catwoman from DST.

I think that these figures can be satisfyingly close to the real deal and I bought the entire Young Justice Lego bootleg series, not only because they look good but because Lego will probably never make an official Miss Martian or Artemis. That said, there is the ethical question of where companies like Decool and Lele get their designs, those that are not reproductions of actual Lego minifigures. I've heard that these templates are swiped off artists and designers who make their own custom Lego minifigures. I don't quite know where I stand on this.

hmm that's interesting. I assumed the designs were made by the producers themselves. I guess it's not a far stretch to think that bootleggers could also be thieves (I realize how redundant that is as I type this). I have ethical concerns every time I order something from China. My rationalization to myself is that I do it out of love for my hobby,and occasional journalistic purposes. I've never bought something just because it was cheaper.